The 19th century and the Dreyfus affair, the origins of anti-Semitism

2024-02-03T04:09:33.045Z

Highlights: The 19th century and the Dreyfus affair, the origins of anti-Semitism. “Hate of the Jews will be grafted onto a pseudo-scientific discourse to decree that there is a Semitic race, which would be inferior, but above all dangerous” It was in 1873 that the German journalist Wilhelm Marr coined the neologism “anti-Semitism” “The industrial revolution will allow certain Jews to rise in the social ladder and through the figure of the Rothschilds, we will associate the Jew with money”

It was in the 19th century that hatred of Jews took on its modern characteristics. By relying on a pseudo-scientific discourse, it takes a new name: “anti-Semitism”. To discuss the rise of anti-Semitism, which culminated with the Dreyfus affair, Virginie Girod speaks with Denis Charbit, professor of political science at the Free University of Israel. “We must understand that what makes anti-Semitism successful over the centuries comes from the fact that it is grafted onto a dominant social discourse. In the 19th century, the main social discourse was that of science” explains Denis Charbit . “Hate of the Jews will be grafted onto a pseudo-scientific discourse to decree that there is a Semitic race, which would be inferior, but above all dangerous.” It was in 1873 that the German journalist Wilhelm Marr coined the neologism “anti-Semitism”. If the industrial revolution brought societies into the modern era, it also gave new ammunition to those who advocate the rejection of Jews, particularly on the left. “The industrial revolution will allow certain Jews to rise in the social ladder and through the figure of the Rothschilds, for example, we will associate the Jew with money” illustrates Denis Charbit. If anti-Semitism thrives in socialist and Marxist circles, the bourgeoisie is also hostile to Jews. A rejection still tinged with anti-Judaism. “The man who makes the connection is Édouard Drumont,” explains Denis Charbit. Polemicist and far-right politician, he published Jewish France "where he tried to demonstrate that the revolution would have benefited the Jews only, and that it would have penalized workers and Catholics in France". The anti-Semitic pamphlet is a bestseller. Eight years after its publication, the Dreyfus affair broke out and crystallized the anti-Semitism of the time. Alfred Dreyfus, because he is Jewish, is considered the ideal culprit in a case of high treason which soon becomes a social conflict between two Frances. When it ends, anti-Semitism has changed again. “Anti-Semitism will move from the left to the right definitively” explains the historian “the anti-republican forces will politically recover anti-Semitism to make it a cardinal value until the apotheosis: the Vichy regime” . Another lesser known consequence, the Dreyfus affair helped to forge the Zionist project in the mind of the Austrian journalist Theodore Herzl, correspondent in Paris. Overwhelmed by the hatred of the Jews which flows into the land of human rights, "he comes to understand that the political solution for the Jews is that they have a land and a state from which they would be at the head" says Denis Charbit. Themes covered: anti-Semitism, Judaism, Marxism, Dreyfus Affair